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Another festival to choose Cambridge as its location is the International Super 8 Film Festival. In the greeting we were told “come see, have fun” and this set the mood for the festival. Dagie Brudert a German director presented her short films, all as premiers in the UK. There were an additional 20 film directors all presenting their films, some as UK premiers and others as world premieres. Furthermore, Super 8 can boast a possible first ever, all woman jury. So why is Super 8 popular among film makers? And what did Super 8 leave behind?

Short films of animation, comedy, documentary, drama, experimental and music entertained and was judged by the jury and the audience at the end of each day. The Boreal Forest Expedition, produced by N&L Bradford-Ewart, told the story of a family’s history, packed with emotion and pet Goffers. While Autophobia, produced by Paulo Abreu, was reminiscent of the Blair Witch, and The Eye you Lost in the Crusades, produced by Jay Eckensberger, what it lacked in plot it more than made up for in the emotional intensity it created between the viewers and the characters.

The Super 8 film makes films appear natural; we are not bombarded with special effects that leave us feeling we have just walked out of a light show. Despite the fact in modern society where in technology are forever seeking a smaller, easier and faster alternative; however Super 8’s naturalness makes it preferable to some film makers.

To find out some more information on this I spoke to Charlie Blackfield, the producer of the Clockwork Mouse films:

What are the main differences between Super 8 and digital film?

With Kodak film we use single frame recording for animation, you may have noticed a subtle graininess in the films (yes) this is something which isn’t done in digital recording but is taken advantage of in super 8 filming.

Are there any “hard-feelings” between super 8 film users and digital film users?

No. Not at all. In fact digital filming has helped Super 8 film users, like when we have to edit our films.

What do you think is in the future for Super 8?

Well, the popularity has recently picked up again, especially those in the art and experimental culture. It has been used in used in films like “The Doors” and “Natural Born Killers”.

Overall the Super 8 attracted children to the older generation, men and women and a diversity of nationalities. Peter, from Szeged bin, Hungary, an ex jury member who was also there to present films, commented that the Super 8 film festival is an excellent way to bring people together from all over the world, as film is something we can all share regardless of what language we speak. Since it began in Madrid with Germany and Hungary showing a collection of Kodak films the festival has picked up international recognition and is becoming increasingly popular.